WhatsApp to replace archived chats with ‘read later’, here’s how it will change

WhatsApp has been working on vacation mode for more than a year now. It was reportedly scrapped but WhatsApp has resumed testing the feature. WhatsApp is now working on a ‘read later’ feature with vacation that will replace archived chats, and give users more control over chats.

This feature was spotted by WABetaInfo onWhatsApp beta version 2.20.130.16 for iOS. Read later is being tested on WhatsApp’s Android app as well. The new feature will not only replace archived chats but also improve it. When a chat is moved to read later, WhatsApp won’t send notifications for that chat. This is supposed to be the “vacation mode” that has been rumoured for a really long time.

Currently, archived chats are pulled up in the front whenever a new message arrives. This somehow renders the feature useless for chats we actually don’t want to hide.